NewRPN85

I work for a company called Bellwood.

If you're willing to go into a rural setting you should have a better chance of finding a job. I live in a big city (Toronto) and it took me ten months to find a job. And I consider myself lucky. Being a nurse and working with families and patients is going to feel different from what you're probably used to. You'll see a different side to both. Patient and their families are usually stressed out and they can take it out on the nurse. It sucks but it happens all of the time. The schedule is also takes a bit of getting used to. The first time you work a 12 hour night shift is a bit of a shock to the system. As for research nurses, I've seen RN job postings with pharmaceutical companies. Your current education and experience could give you an edge over other nurses. When it comes to shifts it can depend on the setting. I work in an inpatient substance abuse treatment facility. I work full-time. They're all 12 hour shifts and I usually work 2 on 2 off, 3 on 2 off, 2 on 3 off and so on and so forth. Some nurses work 4 12 hour shifts then get 5 days off. It really depends where you end up. As far as actually going ahead with becoming a nurse I'd say it depends on what you want out of your career and what kind of person you are. If you can take all manner of fluids the body can produce, the emotional and physical toll the job can take on you and you actually care about helping people then it could be for you. If possible I'd recommend trying to talk to some of the nurses where you work and ask them what their day looks like. Try to talk to a few that have been nursing for 30 years and some that are newer and get their perspectives.

I had a pretty similar experience at GBC. I hated almost everything about the school. I'm going back for the RN bridge at GBC (I must be nuts). The thing is nursing school is hard no matter where you go. I've been working as an RPN for just under two years. Nursing school needs to be hard because being a nurse is hard. But the way they treat you is worse than I've ever been treated in the workplace. My stress level at work can be up to an 8 out of 10. When I was at GBC I was at a ten for all of year two. No matter when you go to school just know that it's going to suck. It's going to be hard and it's going to be demoralizing. When you see your class go from 160 to 80 to 50 over the semesters it can be discouraging. But if being a nurse if what you really want and you're committed you can finish.

Having a degree would probably help you get an interview but as far as I know it probably wouldn't make a difference in pay. Especially in a union environment.

If you go straight through doing the bridge would take five years. And yep. I've been working full time for the past 18 months. I lucked out and found a job about 8 months after I graduated. Other than the ID you can't tell nurses apart. Where I work I do the exact same job tasks as the RN's without exception. In a hospital RN's handle more complicated patients. And being an RN affords you a lot more career options. In the end being an RN will give you a better wage. Ron's make anywhere from $19 if you work for a doctors office to $32 if you work for a municipality. RN's usually earn from $30 to (and this is the top end) $44 an hour.

I would go for the RN straight away if you can't do the second entry. I'm doing the RPN to RN bridge starting in September. I'm happy to be an RPN but doing both is the long way round if your ultimate goal is to become an RN.

Hahaha man that's pretty cheap of them. My first semester of the RPN program was at the St.James campus then we moved to the Waterfront. I have no doubt that things have changed. But I still find it funny that they want you to buy your own instead of including a stethoscope.

I usually am. I don't love my job, but I love the people I work with and I feel fulfilled at this point in my career. I don't regret becoming a nurse, but there is certainly a dark side to the profession if you work for a for profit clinic.

You can buy any white shoe. I've had plenty of nurses look at me funny because I actually went out and bought white shoes. Where I trained almost no-one wore them and where I work I can't think of anyone that actually wears them. My advice to you is to buy the most comfortable shoes you can find at the absolute lowest price. You're Probably going to get a lot of stuff excreted, spilled or projected at you. You don't want to spend too much on shoes. As for the stethoscope, you should be given one. I seem to recall being given a voucher for the GBC store that is good for one set of scrubs and you get a nursing kit that includes a stethoscope, a few pen lights, a reflex hammer and maybe something else. They also give you a box of gloves. Which was a bit odd considering every single health care facility I stepped into gave us as many pairs as we needed.

I actually didn't find anatomy that bad. It's almost all straight memorization. But make sure you attend every class. I know they always say that, but it's true for sure for anatomy. And when you get to study the models make sure you really take the time. You have to do a bell-ringer at the end of the semester where you go to something like 18 different stations and you'll be asked what this part of the heart is or that part of the brain. It's a bit stressful but as long as you prepare it's not super hard.

Make sure you can take a manual blood pressure and make sure you can do it well. It's a simple skill, but one that students tend to lose quickly because of all the automatic BP machines in hospitals. Also buy yourself a nursing care plan book. Believe me you're going to be doing a lot of them and there aren't as many as there should be in the library. Finally be assertive with your clinical leader. No need to be rude, but they will push you a bit to see if you can take being picked on and what you'll do. Unfortunately nurses love to eat our young and there will be people that will bully you. One thing they won't mention to you first semester is in your final semester you have to write an exit test. Basically it's a practice for your provincial licensing exam that you need to pass to graduate. So keep every single handout and scrape of paper they give you. Nothing to worry about in the beginning but something to keep in the back of your mind.

Way to go guys. If I can offer some advice. I graduated from GBC's RPN program about 3 years ago.It's without a doubt a difficult program. I'm going back to GBC in September for the RN bridge for more torture. Anyway, get yourself a giant calendar and mark every single assignment, test and important date. Also form a study group ASAP. And say good-bye to your social life for two years lol.